Sensex ends marginally up after lackluster session

Moving in a tight band amid lackluster trades right through the session amid a lack of cues, the Indian stock market managed to eke out marginal gains today.

With most of the markets in the Asian region drifting lower amid worries about the financial situation in the eurozone and European markets turning in a lackluster performance, the mood was extremely cautious on the Indian bourses today. The overnight negative close on Wall Street too weighed on sentiment to a notable extent.

Activity was mostly stock specific today. Short-covering ahead of June series derivatives expiry pushed up prices of some front line stocks.

The BSE benchmark Sensex, which moved in a band of around 130 points - it touched a high of 16,946.66 and a low of 16,815.87 during the day - ended at 16,906.58 with a gain of 24.42 points or 0.14%.

The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange settled at 5120.80, around 15 points off the day's high of 5134.55, recording a gain of 6.15 points or 0.12%. The Nifty touched a low of 5095.50.

Manappuram Finance traded firm right through the day and ended with a gain of over 11%. Reports that Baring India has raised its stake in the company to 5.94%, and the 'stable' rating for the stock from ICRA attracted investors to the counter.